cv and job help

I agree with AlleyCat. There is nothing particularly wrong with this CV. It is a standard speculative CV.

That said, if you are applying for a specific job, it is always worth rejigging things a little to make it easier for the reader. For a specific job, the personal statement is less important and your key stills, any work experience or relevant experience and academic achievements are much more important. I would therefore put skills and experience at the top, but only those relevant to the job, then your education, then your hobbies at the bottom. Your personal statement then becomes a cover letter and is a brief blurb about why you should be considered for an interview. Which leads into the last top tip

A CV is only an advertisement for an interview.

Good luck!

Your personal statement should actually be the first heading on a CV.

No. When I am reading CVs, I am going to spend about 20 seconds on each before it is filed in the bin. All I want to know is if the person has some skills or experience that suggests they will be able to do the job. I am not interested in their philosophy of life or their experience on a trek to Everest. We can talk about that in the interview.

When you are at school or university there is almost a religion about how you should set out your CV. It goes everywhere from personal statements (waste of space) to the font you choose and the paper you print it on (most CVs are online these days). But there is only one question the CV needs to answer and that is:

Do I want to interview the person who wrote this CV?

And you have 20 seconds of reading time to answer it.

You do need a summary. Anyone can list down relevant key skills and academic qualifications but the summary is intended so sell yourself. If you can't sell yourself from the very start of the CV then the employer won't even bother reading your "key skills". The summary helps describe the value you can bring to a would be employer. And plus, you aren't supposed to write about your philosophy of life or that trek to Everest because it's irrelevant.

hi , I am trying to get a part time job during these summer holidays and probably on the weekends when starting sixth form. I have applied for lots of jobs , retail based but keep getting emails saying that we will not be taking your application further after careful consideration. I cannot help but think my CV is the problem. Can someone please read it and tell me how it is , improvements that could be made the good things etc so that I do get an interview. I have written CV below. The CV is the same for most jobs in retail as the roles are pretty similar abut I change the job title and add and remove a few things just to suit the job role but still rejected. Any help would be hugely appreciated . THANK YOU

cv :
Personal Statement

A school leaver who has recently completed their GCSE'S, with a driving force who is consistent in working hard to achieve goals. An individual who is self-motivated , gets along with all people and can provide consistent and reliable customer service, as well as assisting your team to meet store targets.
Skills which were learnt in my schooling years are, the development of essential communication skills, ability to perform efficiently in groups or individually, and to multitask.These will go hand in hand with the role of a Sales Assistant. In this fast moving industry, I am looking to further gain and advance on these skills as they are imperative for a career in retail, along with opening up future opportunities in this competitive business.

Key Skills

 Bilingual - In English and Punjabi as well as, good understanding in Urdu- can use this to deal with customers who may not understand or speak English fluently.

 Good logical and analytical skills- able to assess situations effectively and come up with sensible ways of overcoming problems.

 Exceptional punctuality and time keeping- displayed through high attendance in school.

 Strong and grounded individual - will be an advantage in this role as I will be able to distinguish which tasks posses more importance and carry them out efficiently, making meeting store targets and deadlines easier.

 Well mannered, polite and patient - provides satisfactory customer service and helps to leave good impression about staff - representing store positively.

 Hard working with high standards - ensuring that the service provided is of high levels to maintain good store reputation and that store targets are met.

 Organised, good communicator , who is not shy to start a conversation - shown when organising events and working with a team while a Prefect in school.

Work Experience

Event First Aid Volunteer, Red Cross,
(March 2016 to ongoing)

some skills which I attained include:

-Advancement in interaction skills , can be used,especially during difficult situations when handling client enquires, and to use these skills while providing excellent customer service, as well as preserving these standards.

- CALMER framework , which can be used to meets the needs of customers efficiently and effectively.

- Being able to work professionally with people from all cultures ,backgrounds and needs.

Education

Recently completed GCSE'S in these subjects and I am yet to receive my grades:

Biology
Chemistry
Physics
English Language
English Literature
Maths
Geography
History
Spanish
BTEC Health and Social Care
Philosophy and Ethics



Hobbies and Interests

Passionate about helping others – by volunteering for an international humanitarian organization called Red Cross. This gives me satisfaction as I have contributed to help those that need it the most and it makes me happy as I see it as a way of making someone's life easier.

Reading self development books – in order to improve my life by making better decisions and to become better person by being very open to feedback and improvements.

Highly enjoy travelling – to experience, try and learn new things, like food, history, culture, fashion so that I can learn new skills.

Playing sport – especially Badminton as I like to keep busy and active as I feel like I am doing something beneficial and because I have always been enthusiastic about sport from young age.



References

References are available on request.

okay thanks for the advice guys. I am making adjustments to the cv one by one starting with giving examples of where I used these skills like alleycat said. so it is written before excuse the bits about the pharmacy , it is for work experience. but for a particular job I would change that to suit a particular job.

Bilingual - In English and Punjabi as well as, good understanding in Urdu- can use this to deal with customers who may not understand or speak English fluently.

 Open-minded - always open to suggestions and feedback from others in order to improve skills and the manner I carry out work.

 Good logical and analytical skills- able to assess situations effectively and come up with sensible ways of overcoming problems.

 Exceptional punctuality and time keeping- displayed through high attendance in school.

 Strong and grounded individual - will be an advantage in this role as I will carry out tasks with a higher priority first in an effective manner, making meeting targets easier.

 Well mannered, polite and patient - shown when interacting with the elderly at Pensioners Party at my school. This provides satisfactory customer service and helps to leave good impression about staff - representing Pharmacy positively.

 Hard working with high standards - shown while leading and teaching young children during Sports Leadership UK .This ensures that the tasks I carry out are of high levels to maintain good Pharmacy reputation and that targets are met.

 Organised, good communicator, who is good at multitasking - shown when organising events and working and leading a team, while a Prefect in school.

I honestly think that you can cut this down to the following:

Skills
Languages - Fluent in English and Punjabi, proficient in Urdu
Leadership – Prefect, Sports Leader

Experience or activities are better than listing skills, as they will expect you to have all of the ones you have listed such as punctuality etc.

I will PM you the skills section on my CV if you like?

That would be hugely appreciated thanks